9 h 50 minAudiobook18 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 50 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In crowded New York, precious emeralds draw relentless enemies—and a curse may be the least of the danger.
In Harold MacGrath’s The Drums of Jeopardy, a group of emeralds sits at the heart of a desperate chase. The jewels promise treasure, but they also bring danger that refuses to stay behind. Enemies tied to anarchist and revolutionary movements pursue their quarry into New York, where the struggle to escape turns the city into a place to hide and hunt.
MacGrath keeps the story moving through brisk chapters, sudden threats and narrow escapes. Crowded, loud and full of new arrivals, New York offers cover without any promise of safety. The emeralds are said to carry a curse, adding another shadow to a pursuit already driven by human enemies. This is adventure built around suspense, intrigue and the urgent need to survive.
What you’ll discover
- Emeralds that bring danger Follow precious jewels whose promise of treasure comes tangled with a reputation for a curse.
- A city of pursuit Enter a crowded New York where the same streets offer hiding places and hunting grounds.
- Enemies who keep coming Meet pursuers tied to revolutionary movements who carry old-world threats into an American city.
- Narrow escapes and sudden threats Feel the pressure of brisk scenes that leave safety uncertain and danger close.
- Old-fashioned intrigue Enjoy a plot that puts pursuit, mystery and desperate survival ahead of quiet reflection.
Who will love it
Readers who like old-fashioned adventure with a heart, chases through city streets, a clever heroine, a gentleman hero and an Irish sense of humor, and who enjoy jewels with a curse and a good love story.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A fugitive vanishes into the Albany fog
- A starving stranger comes to Kitty's window
- Cutty tells Kitty about the drums of jeopardy
- Karlov appears, and Cutty shows his hand
- The loft in the clouds and the name Two-Hawks
- Hawksley wants to be an American
- A burglar on the roof and a strange proposal
- Two April fools on Broadway
- What the story is really about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Kitty ConoverA witty, brave young newspaperwoman who lives alone and longs for adventure, and who feeds a stranger at her window.
- John HawksleyA hunted young man of Russian birth and English schooling, who carries a pouch of jewels and wants to become an American.
- CuttyA fifty-two-year-old war correspondent, secret government agent and collector of drums and emeralds, who guards Kitty as her godfather.
- Boris KarlovA powerful, fanatical anarchist who has followed Hawksley across the world, driven by hatred and a private grief.
- Stefani GregorA gentle old hotel valet, once a great violinist, who raised Hawksley and has vanished from his apartment.
- BurlingameKitty's friend and editor at the newspaper, a kind and learned man who helps Cutty keep her safe.
- Tony BerniniThe new assistant janitor, in truth one of Cutty's men, who watches over Kitty from the basement of her building.
- Miss FrancesThe sensible nurse who cares for the wounded man in Cutty's loft and quietly sizes up everyone who enters.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 50 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 18 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Die Trommeln der Gefahr in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Die Trommeln der Gefahr
by Harold MacGrath · 1920
A hunted man with two cursed emeralds around his neck knocks at a New York girl's window, begging for supper.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Drums of Jeopardy is a spy adventure by the American novelist Harold MacGrath. It is set in New York in the uneasy spring after the First World War, when the guns have stopped but the old empires of Europe are still falling apart.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A fugitive vanishes into the Albany fog
The story opens at half past three on a cold March morning, when a fast train from the West pulls into Albany. Fog lies so thick that the station lamps look like dim stars. A man in a long dark coat steps off with a scarred English kitbag and waits against a wall until the other passengers have gone. He has traveled sixteen thousand miles to get here, by horse, camel, ship and rail, always heading east toward New York.
He is not alone. A short, thickset man with a blue-black beard slips out of the fog and follows him. The first traveler takes a taxi to a hotel and signs the register as John Hawksley of London. The squat man arrives soon after, scrawls a name no one can read, and is handed the key to the room next door. He has no luggage at all, and the sleepy night clerk does not notice.
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What is The Drums of Jeopardy about?
It follows a hunted young man who brings two valuable emeralds to New York, and the newspaperwoman and war correspondent who shelter him. A fanatic named Karlov chases them all, and the story mixes danger, humor and romance.
What are the drums of jeopardy?
They are two matched emeralds carved as the drumheads of ivory drummers, said to leave misfortune behind wherever they go. Cutty first hears of them as a collector, and the phrase becomes the book's symbol of danger.
Who is Cutty in The Drums of Jeopardy?
Cutty is a fifty-two-year-old war correspondent who collects drums and green stones. He is also a secret government agent, and he promises to watch over Kitty Conover because he was a close friend of her parents.
The author
Harold MacGrath
1871–1932 · American novelist and screenwriter
Harold MacGrath (1871–1932) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and screenwriter. He was born in Syracuse, New York, and died there. His novels included The Lure of the Mask (1908), The Place of Honeymoons (1912), and The Drums of Jeopardy (1920). Several of his works were adapted for films.
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